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Houston Rockets To Stardom

John Houston believes his eye-catching start to the season with Edinburgh illustrates the quality bursting through the current Scottish club scene.

A year ago, Houston, 24, was regularly playing for Heriot's while studying for a sports science degree. But now 12 months on he is making waves on the Magners League stage in the black and red and scored a memorable try against former champions Ulster at Murrayfield. Accordingly, the Edinburgh-born back, who captained the GB Sevens side during the World University Championships admits he is adjusting to the demands of the professional game, but says he is enjoying every minute of it.

Speaking exclusively to www.edinburghrugby.org, Houston said: "Personally I"ve been very happy with four starts after coming from club rugby. So I"m delighted to have been given the opportunity at this early stage.

"When you step up at every level there is an increase in pace and there is also a major increase in physicality in the game.

"It takes a lot longer to recover than it did in a club game. Andy Robinson describes it as being in a car crash " it is pretty brutal. Everything happens at a higher intensity.

"It was great to score against Ulster at Murrayfield and it was great to help the team get five points."

With the club's Scotland contingent set to return to training on Monday, Houston revealed he is excited about working with some of the country's most revered performers.

He said: 'they are the best guys in Scotland, so that will obviously increase the intensity in training. I believe I can learn a lot from them because they are great players."

Now Houston predicts more club players will make the breakthrough in the full-time game and cites his own ascendancy as a shining example.

He said: "I probably wouldn't have thought I would be where I am 12 months ago. But I have trained hard over the past two years with the aim of getting a professional contract when I finished University. I was just delighted to be given an opportunity with Edinburgh.

"I am 24 years old now and I wasn't involved in the Academy set-up, so it just shows if you have a good year in club rugby, you will be watched and you will be given the opportunity."